Municipal Brief Recommended Bylaws Final
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AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO BIRD CONSERVATION AND CAT WELFARE A GUIDE FOR MUNICIPALITIES August 2018 Nature Canada is the oldest national nature conservation charity in Canada. Our mission is to protect and conserve wildlife and habitats in Canada by engaging people and advocating on behalf of nature. Learn more at www.naturecanada.ca. Nature Canada works with partners across Canada to Keep Cats Safe & Save Bird Lives, including national partners Humane Canada, Bird Studies Canada, FLAP Canada and Earth Rangers. The program addresses cat predation of birds – a maJor cause of bird mortality in Canada’s urban and rural landscapes – in a positive and collaborative way. We believe that all animals are important, and humans we must protect both cats and birds. Cats are at risk when they go outdoors unsupervised. Through improving our treatment of cats we, as a society, also limit their impact on the environment in general, and birds in particular. Visit our website at catsandbirds.ca to learn more and access municipal and public resources, or contact us at [email protected] for support for your community’s initiative to Keep Cats Safe & Save Bird Lives. Nature Canada drew on the knowledge and resources of its partners to develop this document and is grateful for the contributions of the Stewardship Centre for British Columbia, the BC SPCA, and Humane Canada. Disclaimer Nature Canada provides the information in this guide and website for educational purposes only. Material contained herein carries no guarantees, express or implied, nor provides any legal advice. Nature Canada does not endorse the linked websites and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for their contents. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO BIRD CONSERVATION AND CAT WELFARE: A GUIDE FOR MUNICIPALITIES TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction …………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………. 3 The Role of Municipalities ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 Best Practices for Municipalities Summary ………………………………………………………….……….. 4 Cat Bylaw & Policy Recommendations I. Restricting Pet Cats from Roaming at Large ………………………………………….…..………… 5 II. Mandatory Spay/Neuter Bylaws ……………………………………….………………….………….… 6 III. Low-cost Spay/Neuter Fund ……………………………………………………..…………….………… 7 IV. Cat Licensing and Identification ……………………………………………….…………..……..…… 8 V. Limiting Pet Store Sales of Cats ……………………………………………………………………….… 9 VI. Homeless and Feral Cats ……………………………………………………………………….….……… 9 VII. Protection of Designated Areas of Environmental Significance ………………….…… 11 VII. Responsible Cat Ownership Education ……………………………………………….………….… 12 Conclusion ……………………………………………………..……………………….……………………….………… 13 References ………………………………………………………………………………….……………….…….……… 14 Appendix 1: The Bird Crisis ……………………………………………………………………………………….…. 15 Appendix 2: The Cat Crisis …..………………………………………………………………………………….…… 16 Appendix 3: Sample Messaging …..………………………………………………………………………….…… 17 Appendix 4: Available Resources …..………………………………………………….………………………… 19 INTRODUCTION Keep Cats Safe & Save Bird Lives is a coalition of cat-care and nature organizations led by Nature Canada in collaboration with our national partners Birds Studies Canada, FLAP Canada, Humane Canada, Earth Rangers and more than 50 other national, regional and local partners. We developed this resource to help local governments navigate the interlocking issues of bird conservation and cat welfare. Several cat-care organizations have model animal bylaws and, while many aspects of those models are consistent with the need to conserve wildlife, they are primarily concerned with domestic animals. The recommendations presented here represent an effort to balance the needs of domestic animals and wildlife. (Animal welfare organizations also recommend other bylaws, including standards of care, which are consistent with those included here, but have no direct impact on birds.) Included are recommendations for bylaws and policies regarding pet cats roaming at large, spay/neuter, identification, licensing, limitations on pet store sales, feral cat management, and public education programs. For more information and resources, contact Nature Canada’s Keep Cats Safe & Save Bird Lives program at [email protected]. THE ROLE OF MUNICIPALITIES Increasingly, both pet owners and municipalities recognize the importance of keeping pet cats from roaming for the benefit of the cats themselves, the overall cat overpopulation issue, wildlife, the environment, and their communities. (For an overview of the bird crisis, please see Appendix 1. For an overview of the cat overpopulation crisis, and the welfare issues for outdoor cats, please see Appendix 2.) But Humane Canada’s Cats in Canada 2017 report notes that only 38% of municipalities surveyed perceive there to be a cat overpopulation problem in their communities, versus 100% of rescues, SPCAs and humane societies (Humane Canada, 2017). Pet cats allowed to roam at large can contribute to the feral cat population if not spayed or neutered and/or be mistaken for unowned cats and picked up by members of the public or animal control officers. Allowing them to roam can result in complaints about yowling or defecating in gardens. Ideally, roaming pet cats would not be taken to shelters at all, but simply returned home to their owners, but that is only feasible if the cats are wearing identification. Community impacts of allowing cats to roam include, not only conflict between neighbours, but also public health risks. Cat feces in gardens, children’s play areas and parks can increase the risk of diseases and parasites in the community. (Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite carried by cats that can be transmitted to humans, mainly through contact with cat feces. While it has no effect on most people, it can affect those with weak immune systems and newborn infants, which is why pregnant women are advised to avoid cleaning kitty litter boxes.) Most Canadian communities have dog control bylaws, but cats are often permitted to roam because of a perception that they are independent or that it’s natural for them. Not only is the practice dangerous for the cats – cars are a leading cause of © Nature Canada, 2018 An Integrated Approach to Bird Conservation and Cat Welfare, p 3 death for cats, especially young cats (Olsen, 2010) – it ignores the fact that domestic cats are not a natural part of ecosystems in North America. When prey and predator evolve alongside each other, each develops adaptive mechanisms, and when the population of prey drops, the population of the predator drops due to the reduction in their food supply. This is not true of companion animals, who are ‘subsidized’ by the care of their owners and were only introduced in North America in the last 500 years. As pets, cats are part of human society, and pets and wildlife need to be kept separate, for the benefit of both. Two recent surveys indicate that between 59% and 72% of cat owners prevent their cats from roaming unsupervised, keeping them entirely indoors or allowing supervised time outdoors (Nature Canada, 2016; Humane Canada, 2017). A smaller percentage of the public is unaware of or downplays the impact of cats on wildlife and the nuisance factor of cats roaming outdoors, as well as overestimating a cat’s ability to deal with outdoor dangers. Many cities in Canada have now adopted responsible pet ownership bylaws – including Montreal, Mississauga, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Calgary – and many smaller communities, from Creston, BC, to the County of Kings, NS, have successfully implemented many of the recommendations below. Given the impacts on both cats and birds, it is imperative that we, as a society, improve the rate of responsible pet ownership practices and reduce the impact of cats on birds and other wildlife. BEST PRACTICES SUMMARY Cat population dynamics are complex, involving interactions between pet cats, stray cats, and feral cats. It is essential that any municipal effort to control the cat population includes strategies for all three segments. We recommend a collaborative community approach to developing a robust strategy to improve the welfare of cats, birds and other wildlife. gathering the stakeholders – both nature and cat- care organizations – supports the development of consensus as to the best path forward, promotes helpful relationships between stakeholders and the exchange of crucial information, and allows for consistent messaging from everyone involved. Public education about the benefits of responsible cat ownership – for the cats, the owners, wildlife, and the community in general – is an essential element of any successful program to decrease the negative impacts of cats on wildlife and improve the welfare of the cats themselves. Best Municipal Practices include: • a plan to achieve change in their community, formulated in collaboration with cat-care and nature organizations, and including strategies for pet, stray, and feral cats • a public education campaign about the benefits of responsible cat ownership for cats, wildlife and the community • animals adopted from shelters are spayed or neutered prior to adoption (or if the animal is too young, a voucher is provided) • retail stores being restricted from selling animals and instead facilitate adoptions from recognized animal rescues, shelters, SPCAs, or humane societies. • Bylaws, including: • an accessible spay/neuter program • mandatory licensing /permanent identification • a no-roam bylaw (exempting loosely owned and feral cats) © Nature Canada, 2018 An Integrated Approach to Bird Conservation and